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Raiders in Lenoir: St. James Episcopal Church and prision: Stoneman's Raid

Marker: Raiders in Lenoir: St. James Episcopal Church and prision: Stoneman's Raid

Salem
(April 10)
Jonesville
(April 1)
Taylorsville
(April 14)
Statesville
(April 13)
Salisbury
(April 12)
Hickory
(April 15)
You Are Here
(March 30 and
April 15)
Boone
(March 28)
Jonesboro
Morristown
(March 23)
Asheville
(April 26)
Swannanoa
Gap (April 20)
Morganton
(April 17)
Hendersonville
(April 23)
Rutherfordton
(April 21)
Fort
Hamby
Howard’s
Gap
(April 22)
To Hillsville, Wytheville, Christiansburg,
and Martinsville, Va. (April 2-10)
Civil War
Trails Site
Carson House
(April 19)
Lincolnton
(April 16)
Wilkesboro
(March 29)
Hickory Nut Gorge (April 26)
Siloam
(April 1–2)
Rockford
(April 1–2)
Route of Stoneman’s Raid in
Tennessee, Virginia, and North
Carolina, March–April 1865
RAIDERS IN LENOIR
★ ★ ★
St. James Episcopal Church and Prison
S T O N E M A N ’ S R A I D
wounds or illness. They filled the grounds and
sanctuary of Saint James Episcopal Church,
which served as a hospital as well as a prison.
Some looting occurred
in Lenoir, but most residents
merely suffered a scare. Local
resident Joseph C. Norwood
wrote, “We are just through
with a scene of alarm and very
great danger,” but added that
the cavalrymen “were equipped
in the very best manner, and
under the severest discipline and were not
allowed to plunder to any great extent or commit
any acts of violence.” Ella Harper, of Lenoir,
wrote in her diary on April 15, “At sunset the
Yanks rushed in on us. We obtained a guard
about our house after they came in, and fared
better than some others. Did not undress or
sleep all night.” The next day, Easter Sunday,
was “unlike the Holy Sabbath,” she wrote, with
“excitement, confusion and hurry all day. Our
poor prisoners seemed almost starved.”
On the morning of April 17, part of Stone-man’s
force rode west toward Morganton while
Stoneman, the prisoners, and
a guard headed northward
toward Blowing Rock. Lenoir
resident Louisa Norwood
wrote her uncle, Walter Lenoir,
that Union cavalrymen called
Lenoir “the damnedest little
rebel town they ever saw.”
On March 24, 1865, Union Gen. George Stoneman led 6,000 cavalrymen from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia
and western North Carolina to disrupt the Confederate supply line by destroying sections of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Piedmont Railroad. He struck at Boone on March 28, headed
into Virginia on April 2, and returned to North Carolina a week later. Stoneman’s Raid ended at Asheville on April 26,
the day that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham.
Ella Harper (Mrs.
George W. Harper)
Courtesy Caldwell
Heritage Museum
St. James Episcopal Church, ca. 1900
Courtesy Caldwell Heritage Museum
Gen. George Stoneman
Library of Congress
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem
Library of Congress
The church that stood here in 1865 became a
prison for three days when Union Gen. George
Stoneman, with two brigades of raiders under
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem, occupied Lenoir over East-er
weekend, April 15–17, 1865. The prisoners were
900 old men, boys, and Confederate soldiers cap-tured
as they recuperated at their homes from
Major funding for this project was provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, through the Transportation Enhancement Program of the Federal Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century.

Salem
(April 10)
Jonesville
(April 1)
Taylorsville
(April 14)
Statesville
(April 13)
Salisbury
(April 12)
Hickory
(April 15)
You Are Here
(March 30 and
April 15)
Boone
(March 28)
Jonesboro
Morristown
(March 23)
Asheville
(April 26)
Swannanoa
Gap (April 20)
Morganton
(April 17)
Hendersonville
(April 23)
Rutherfordton
(April 21)
Fort
Hamby
Howard’s
Gap
(April 22)
To Hillsville, Wytheville, Christiansburg,
and Martinsville, Va. (April 2-10)
Civil War
Trails Site
Carson House
(April 19)
Lincolnton
(April 16)
Wilkesboro
(March 29)
Hickory Nut Gorge (April 26)
Siloam
(April 1–2)
Rockford
(April 1–2)
Route of Stoneman’s Raid in
Tennessee, Virginia, and North
Carolina, March–April 1865
RAIDERS IN LENOIR
★ ★ ★
St. James Episcopal Church and Prison
S T O N E M A N ’ S R A I D
wounds or illness. They filled the grounds and
sanctuary of Saint James Episcopal Church,
which served as a hospital as well as a prison.
Some looting occurred
in Lenoir, but most residents
merely suffered a scare. Local
resident Joseph C. Norwood
wrote, “We are just through
with a scene of alarm and very
great danger,” but added that
the cavalrymen “were equipped
in the very best manner, and
under the severest discipline and were not
allowed to plunder to any great extent or commit
any acts of violence.” Ella Harper, of Lenoir,
wrote in her diary on April 15, “At sunset the
Yanks rushed in on us. We obtained a guard
about our house after they came in, and fared
better than some others. Did not undress or
sleep all night.” The next day, Easter Sunday,
was “unlike the Holy Sabbath,” she wrote, with
“excitement, confusion and hurry all day. Our
poor prisoners seemed almost starved.”
On the morning of April 17, part of Stone-man’s
force rode west toward Morganton while
Stoneman, the prisoners, and
a guard headed northward
toward Blowing Rock. Lenoir
resident Louisa Norwood
wrote her uncle, Walter Lenoir,
that Union cavalrymen called
Lenoir “the damnedest little
rebel town they ever saw.”
On March 24, 1865, Union Gen. George Stoneman led 6,000 cavalrymen from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia
and western North Carolina to disrupt the Confederate supply line by destroying sections of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Piedmont Railroad. He struck at Boone on March 28, headed
into Virginia on April 2, and returned to North Carolina a week later. Stoneman’s Raid ended at Asheville on April 26,
the day that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham.
Ella Harper (Mrs.
George W. Harper)
Courtesy Caldwell
Heritage Museum
St. James Episcopal Church, ca. 1900
Courtesy Caldwell Heritage Museum
Gen. George Stoneman
Library of Congress
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem
Library of Congress
The church that stood here in 1865 became a
prison for three days when Union Gen. George
Stoneman, with two brigades of raiders under
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem, occupied Lenoir over East-er
weekend, April 15–17, 1865. The prisoners were
900 old men, boys, and Confederate soldiers cap-tured
as they recuperated at their homes from
Major funding for this project was provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, through the Transportation Enhancement Program of the Federal Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century.